Chapter 1577 — The Strange Proposal

"Old man, you'd better head on back. I've got an exam to rush to," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head.

"Here's my contact information. Think it over and call me!" The old man had wanted to say more, but mindful of the people around them, he caught himself and instead pressed a business card into Wei Zhao's hand.

Wei Zhao could hardly refuse. He took the card, glanced at it, and discovered that the old man's family actually ran a pharmacy — which explained how he came by some medical knowledge. Wei Zhao thought nothing more of it, slipped the card into his pocket, and headed into the examination hall with Tang Yun and the others.

The old man sighed, sent his grandson off to the exam, and shook his head as he walked toward the shade...

"Thanks for what you did just now. I didn't expect — you're taking the exam too?" The old man's grandson caught up with Wei Zhao and offered his thanks.

"Sure, it was nothing. Just a small favor," Wei Zhao replied coolly.

"My name is Bai Weituo. I'm taking this year's exams as well," the boy introduced himself.

"Wei Zhao." Wei Zhao gave him a nod.

Sensing that Wei Zhao wasn't particularly warm, Bai Weituo had the tact to keep quiet.

The little episode passed without leaving any ripple behind. At the teaching building, Wei Zhao parted ways with Tang Yun and the rest, while Bai Weituo headed off to his own examination hall.

He exchanged a nod with Wang Xinyan once again. This was the final subject of the college entrance examinations. Once it was over, meeting again would not be so easy for Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan — but with each other's phone numbers, neither worried about losing contact.

The three days of examinations ended swiftly. This was, for most high school students, the happiest moment in months — time to set down their textbooks and play to their hearts' content, and Gu Mengyao and the others were no exception.

During the time Wei Zhao had been away, all three had reviewed their lessons day after day solely to prepare for the exams. Now, at last, they could be free of it.

"We absolutely have to celebrate tonight!" Shen Yushu said, stretching luxuriously after climbing into the car.

"You go ahead and celebrate. I still need to stop by the police station, and then the hospital to see Wu Chengtian and Qiu Lingshan," Wei Zhao said. "With the exams taking up all my time these past few days, I haven't had a chance to deal with that robber."

"Right — what exactly is going on with that robber? He seems to be trying to frame you! Wei Zhao, you have to get to the bottom of this!" Gu Mengyao had just remembered the whole matter of the fake Wei Zhao, and hurriedly spoke up.

"I'll go take a look first," Wei Zhao nodded.

Since Wei Zhao had business to attend to, he dropped the three girls off at the villa and drove straight to the police station.

At the police station, accompanied by Yang Huaijun and Liu Wangli, Wei Zhao gave a brief statement. After all, Qiu Lingshan and Wu Chengtian had been witnesses at the time, and his account was much the same as theirs.

"Wei Zhao, to be honest, I nearly misjudged you before, and I'm frankly ashamed of it," Liu Wangli said, looking a little embarrassed as he addressed Wei Zhao. "I even went out to your villa to investigate back then. Looking at it now, it was all a misunderstanding."

"That's all right. After all, the first time I laid eyes on him, I almost mistook him for my own double," Wei Zhao said.

"I'm glad you understand. Until the suspect is caught, we simply have no way to clear your name — after all, the only evidence we had was image photographs, and the suspect is exceptionally cunning, leaving no fingerprints or other traces at the scene..." Liu Wangli said with a bitter smile. "So the only person we could lock on to was you."

"Who exactly is this person? What's his goal?" Wei Zhao furrowed his brow at Liu Wangli's words. He had already heard from Gu Mengyao about the overall circumstances of the case. As Liu Wangli had said, this individual was exceptionally cunning — leaving no fingerprints during the crime indicated a cautious, meticulous person. Could someone like that really use such a conspicuous getaway vehicle? And with license plate tt000, no less — wasn't that just inviting discovery by the police?

The whole thing was riddled with contradictions!

"After our analysis, we believe this person's goal may have been to frame you!" Liu Wangli said. "He went from concealing his face initially to gradually revealing his features and his getaway vehicle — he was exposing his purpose step by step! And since he already exposed himself yet still left no fingerprints at the scene, that tells us one thing: he can't imitate your fingerprints!"

"That's what I thought as well. This person wants to frame me — but whose side is he on?" Wei Zhao frowned, unable to fathom who would resort to such a crude scheme to bring him down.

"That's not clear yet, but beyond framing you, this person has also robbed several banks, jewelry stores, shopping centers, and hotels in Songshan City, making off with a fortune in valuables," Liu Wangli said.

"Oh? Has the interrogation yielded any results?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I had planned to come find you tomorrow, since your exams end today — I didn't expect you to show up today..." Yang Huaijun said with a bitter smile. "The suspect is currently in the hospital... but..."

"I only broke his limbs — that shouldn't affect his ability to speak, should it?" Wei Zhao asked.

"That it doesn't..." Yang Huaijun said. "But the key problem is, this man currently seems like an imbecile — his eyes are blank, he gives no response to anything we ask him, as though he hasn't heard us..."

"What happened?" Wei Zhao frowned and replayed the scene in his memory. He didn't seem to have struck the fake Wei Zhao's head at all — and besides, the impostor had already seemed off when Wei Zhao first made his move.

"When we asked him questions, his brainwave activity showed no change whatsoever — meaning he didn't hear our questions at all. The doctors have examined him carefully as well. His brain has been damaged by drugs, leaving him essentially in a vegetative state..." Yang Huaijun said with a bitter smile. "The man is, in fact, nothing but an idiot..."

"What?" Wei Zhao was stunned. "An idiot? Then before all this..."

"We've had a specialist in brain medicine examine him. He says the man's earlier behavior may have been the result of being hypnotized by an extraordinarily skilled hypnotist, carrying out only pre-programmed commands — but that would be quite a difficult thing to achieve..." Yang Huaijun said with a bitter smile. "The reason I wanted to find you was to ask: do you have any confidence you could cure this man?"

For the fastest updates, please read without pop-up ads.